1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to equipment for determining the weight of a load and, more particularly, to a weighing apparatus that is mountable to a device such as a material handling device or other such device.
2. Related Art
Numerous types of weighing devices are known in the relevant art. Spring-loaded scales, beam-type balancing scales, load cells, and the like are generally understood for use in accessing the weight of an object. Typically the object is placed on the scale, or the object's weight is somehow applied thereto, in order to provide some type of an output that is representative of the weight of the object. While such weighing devices have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they have not been without limitation.
Some environments involve mechanical relationships and/or geometries wherein the obtaining of an accurate weight of a load can be difficult if not impossible. An example of such a situation is where a material handling device such as a forklift is intended to not only lift and carry a load, but is also intended to detect and output the weight of the load.
As is generally understood in the relevant art, a conventional forklift includes a pair of forks that protrude from the front of the forklift and that carry the load thereon. The forks are movable in the vertical direction through the operation of a lift mechanism when the load is situated on the forks. Since the forks protrude from the front of the forklift, the center of mass of the load is offset to a location in front of the lift mechanism. The result is that such moment loading and the like is applied to any weighing device that is situated in the vicinity of the lift mechanism. Such load moments generate friction, binding, and other problems that affect the accuracy of the weight measurement. This is to be contrasted with, for example, a beam-type balance apparatus wherein the load is placed upon a platform that is suspended by wires that extend from a swivel mount of a type that enables the center of mass of the load to be situated vertically below the point at which the weight of the load is applied to the balance beam. Improvements thus would be desirable.